The Kind Of Things We Believe...

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David Bartus


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If there is one thing that has been constant through the ages, it is the fact that people are always susceptible to superstitions and they can believe anything at all as long as there is some level of mystery to it.

Many times, superstitions can arise as a result of someone spreading fake news for his own benefit, such news might turn out to become even more popular than the creator might have intended and soon people will start believing it as if there was an iota of truth in it. But then, there was no way they could tell otherwise because only the creator would have that information.

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Like other forms of fake news, superstition has the ability and power to sow fear among people and spur them into action. Many times, the situation plays on human emotions and causes them to act out, the exact thing that the creators of the superstition might be after all.

And there are times when superstition just comes to be. There is no real explanation simply because those involved did not even know that what they were saying at that time was going to go down in history. But then, that is superstition for you. On its own, it is quite harmless, but once you add human emotions to the mix, it will become a different ballgame entirely.

Over the years, we have come to see some superstitions that really shook the world to its core. Maybe now when we think about them we feel that those who had believed in them had to be out of their minds to believe that. But then, you had to be present in that kind of society to know how it really felt. It is only then that you will be able to understand why the people of old believed in certain things. And when they were eventually proven to be false, there were still those who did not believe it.

One major example of that is the global Y2k scare. This was during the last days of the year 1999. The world was changing for centuries and a lot of people were feeling that there was no way the number could continue after 1999. They all believed that the world was coming to an end.

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Markus Spiske

There were groups and communities that were created for sensitization of this information alone. People began to buy arms and also stock up on food, in anticipation of what was to come. The end of the world as they knew it.

But as it turned out, all that fuss was for nothing.

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After the last day of December in 1999, the world moved on to the first day of January 2000. It took some time, but the world finally realized that the apocalypse was probably not as close as they had feared. Many theories came up as to why they had survived, seeing as many of them had actually believed the days of the world were numbered. But eventually, people moved on. They realized that there was no way the world could have stopped just because they came to the end of a millennium.

And eventually, that died down.

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S. Migaj

That is a perfect story of how superstition gripped the world and caused major responses throughout the world. But that is not the only story.

There is one more recent one that came while the world was still reeling from the shock of the Corona Virus Disease. And that is the 5G scare.

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When 5G was first announced, people all over the world kicked against it. Protests were conducted to try and stop everything because they believed that it could cause cancer. People were warned to stay clear from anything that had to do with 5G if they wanted to live. But then, in time, the story became clear and they all realized that all it had been was much ado about nothing.

So you see? This is how powerful superstitions can be. And then, the further they spread the more credence they gain and the more people listen to it until it becomes a force on its own and nothing can be done to stop it.

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Craig Adderlay

So before you put something out there, read and reread it to be sure of what you are putting, you never know where that information might get to. And if it expresses you in a bad light, that might be you for a long time indeed. And it is not a happy place to be.

My dear friends, what do you think about this? There are people who think superstition has grounds in reality, but I don’t. Do you think I’m wrong? Do you know of any superstition that also traveled around the world and shook it? Feel free to share them in the comments section below, I would love to know your thoughts.

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Brett Sayles

Thank you for reading. Till we meet in the next post.
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Borderimage credit: @deimage.



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16 comments
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Hmmm...
This topic you've served before us is obviously a really deep one that as taken so much from many, and yet many still live in it bound. I bet you'd agree with me that some society/tribe even till now still take some superstitions as a way of live (culture) I'm not even talking the oldies alone now, I mean the young ones still imbibe these things without questioning.

One thing that I'll love to contribute is that as bad and derailing superstitions may be, I believe it would still find a way to survive in this world of ours as long as humans still dwell here.

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When it is culture, it is totally understandable and acceptable. It is different for things that have nothing to do with culture or religion.
Thank you for reading,

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Bless you brother...

At the same time, I would love that you understand that there's no such thing as "culture as a standard". What actually makes culture, is the popular belief of people. I mean, majority believe an idea, and it becomes an acceptable way of life. For example, the killing of twins was a popular belief (culture) some years ago which people agreed to and also lived by, because of the mystery behind their birth(which in the real sense goes for every child). What causes us to identify superstition really is when there is a newer belief that seeminglyq overrides the old one.

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You are right though and each time we find out all these are just lies we get pissed and angry for believing lies

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Superstitions are not real but we found these in our daily lives. Specially we can hear these type of fake things from our grandparents but we can't deny them because of respect. But I'm agreeing with you because I also don't believe.

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Yeah, that's true, one as to be very careful with words when one is in a conversation with those oldies oo

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Superstitions surround us, we can't go a day without hearing about them. They are a normal way of life for many of us now.
Thank you for reading.

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Sometimes superstions are made to make us act rightly or should I say be cautious,for me, i can't say I believe or I don't believe in superstition, what i do is just follow it logically, for example, i think there is a superstition in Yoruba land(part of nigeria) that says "if a baby falls from the mother's back, the mother will have to walk around naked to prevent future problems for the child maritally", of course how will a child falling from the mother's back cause future marital predicament?, rather, it can cause instant injury or other complications, it's just a way of instilling fears in mothers to make them extra careful with their babies.
Although superstitions can be bad at times, they are also helpful, mine is just follow them logically.

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Wow... this is surely one way of looking at it. By using logic, you will be able to figure out the missing image.

Thank you for reading.

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One major example of that is the global Y2k scare. This was during the last days of the year 1999. The world was changing for centuries and a lot of people were feeling that there was no way the number could continue after 1999. They all believed that the world was coming to an end.

This episode was incredibly humorous when my dad told me about it, especially now that you've brought it up again.

People nowadays still believe in a lot of superstitions, or perhaps I should say fake news. One I found common is that some people actually accept Putin's justifications for invading Ukraine; they are so ridiculous, and I learned how easily people can be duped.

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Thanks to social media, it's is now easy to get access to such news and that is what will aid in the spread.
Thank you for reading.

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It is really a pity because we tend to believe things that are not real than the main things that are real, most of us are living our lives in fear of something we just heard or read from book. I believe the main reason why we still live in this fear is because we don't want to find out things for ourselves we are just comfortable with what people tells us. Thanks for this wonderful piece

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Indeed... allowing something that was written years ago to determen your life now will only set the person up for failure.
Thank you for reading,

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The fact is people hate hearing the truth, it Always a bitter pill to swallow

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